


Then Comes Marriage

by Pandelion



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-23
Updated: 2012-05-23
Packaged: 2017-11-05 21:34:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/411244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pandelion/pseuds/Pandelion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony gives a speech, because he's best man and that's what best men do. (And Clint learns to be a bit more careful in what he asks for.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Then Comes Marriage

“I’d like to make a speech,” Tony says, half-empty glass raised up. Nobody pays him any mind and he scowls around at them, grabbing for Steve’s chair when the room starts to slide. He downs the rest of the glass and—double-checking that it was indeed glass and not, like, crystal or something—tosses it over his shoulder at the wall.

The sound of glass bits hitting the floor is loud in the sudden silence and Tony smirks. “I’d like to make a speech,” he repeated.

“Tony—” Steve starts, but Tony holds up a hand.

“Aht. Clint asked. He asked me to give a speech and I am going to give a speech. Okay?” Steve doesn’t answer, but settles back in his seat and Tony takes that as assent.

Coulson’s giving Clint a Look and Tony grins at them. “No take-backs, Clint. You asked and you shall receive. Now. This is a…well, honestly, this is a very uncomfortable day for me, I never know what to do with weddings. But I’m sure it’s a very wonderful day for some of you, particularly our newly hitched lovebirds—Clint, tell Phil that just because he can’t see me through his hand doesn’t mean I don’t exist, that’s just rude. Anyway.”

Walking around the table, he snags another glass of champagne and takes a swallow before lifting it. “So, it was a beautiful ceremony, very touching with the bit about the stuff and all. You guys were there, you agree with me, right? Right, Hill? Very beautiful. I nearly cried. But that’s over and I was the best man, which means—” he pauses. “—which mean’s Coulson was technically the bride? Wow. That’s an odd mental image, no offense, Agent. So, I’m the best man, which means this is going to be an embarrassing speech, in the tradition of best man speeches. I’d like to start with letting you guys know that Clint here, my buddy Clint, is a shitty friend, but a fabulous archer and, apparently, a decent boyfriend.”

“Stark,” Coulson warns from behind his hand. Tony grins.

“Best man speech, Coulson. So, Clint, I’m really not sure how you managed to land someone like Agent Coulson, but I want you to know that I’m happy for you and I do hope you’re very happy with each other.” And that’s a bit sappy and a tad bit too honest, so he clears his throat and turns to wink at Steve. “And I hope you’re still satisfied with the size of Coulson’s—”

“Tony!” Steve interrupts, sounding scandalized.

“—dowry, sheesh, Steve, this is a wedding, there are children present, get your mind out of the gutter.”  He sticks his tongue out and glances around again. Phil is muttering to Clint, who looks like he’s maybe starting to regret asking Tony to give a speech. Fury is looking at Tony, but the distance and single eye make it hard to tell if he’s frowning or not. The rest of the guests range from vaguely amused to irritated. Which, really, is just par for the course. Tony leans against the table and takes another couple of large swallows of the champagne.

“So, I’ve known the two of you for a while, now—about, what, two years?—and I think I can be considered qualified to say this; you two are good together. You work well with each other, in and out of the field. Not quite an ‘opposites attract’ match, but complementary.” And now Phil is looking at him and Clint has a bit of a smile and Fury is looking maybe a little less frosty than usual. More champagne is called for, clearly. “Not something I would ever have predicted, but looking back and seeing you now, you guys work. You make it work and I’m a tad bit envious of that, like, maybe 42% envious and 58% admiring. That’s something that I know has taken a lot of effort from you both and I just…” He takes an extra-large swallow this time. “What you’ve got is something pretty special and I just hope that I can someday find something like what you two have.”

There’s no more champagne, so he sets the glass down behind him. A warm hand closes over his before he can move away, though and Tony relaxes a bit into Steve’s grip, takes a deep breath.

“So, congratulations, you guys. I wish you both the very best. And now I’m going to go find something stronger than champagne; I need to forget everything I just said before I start crying.”

There’s a light babble behind him as Tony pulls away from Steve’s grip to head for the open bar. He’s barely got a whiskey in his hands before Steve’s leaning against the bar next to him, though, all solid warmth that Tony can feel even across the inches separating them.

“That was a nice speech, Tony,” Steve says, declining a drink when the bartender offers.

Tony snorts. “I figured Coulson would kill me if I made any innuendos, or else it would have been more fun.”

“Still.” Steve’s quiet for a moment, watching the other guests, and Tony takes the chance to down most of the whiskey, just slow enough that he could taste the burn. “You’ll find your something, Tony,” he says quietly. Tony glances at him.

“If you say so.”

Steve’s hand lands on his again and Tony follows the lines of muscle up to Steve’s face, blue eyes looking at him with confidence and determination and a bit of fondness and…something else, something that Tony can’t possibly be reading right. “I do say so,” Steve says firmly and his hand curls around Tony’s, a little too much to be completely casual.

Tony looks down at their hands and back up to Steve’s face, still so open and—“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Steve says, smiling, and he slides his hand a little further, thumb stroking along Tony’s as their fingers catch.

“This is such a cliché, getting together at a wedding,” Tony complains, but he’s leaning into Steve already and Steve laughs, a warm rumble that Tony feels as much as hears.

“Then be a cliché with me.”

“Yeah, okay,” Tony says, right before getting hit in the face with a bouquet. Steve catches it on the rebound and Tony scowls at a grinning Clint. “Barton, you bastard!”

“I call dibs on being your best man!” Clint calls back, still grinning as Phil tugs him out onto the dance floor for the first dance.

“I swear, I’m going to—“ Tony breaks off when he sees Steve’s still holding the bouquet. “What, you don’t really believe that, do you? That the catcher’s the next to get married?”

“Maybe not entirely,” Steve admits, tugging on their linked hands. “But I wouldn’t mind proving it true.”

And really, it’s a good thing Steve kisses him then, because Tony really can’t think of a good response to that except to say it all with lips and tongue and teeth.


End file.
